Iv’e been managing to recall/remember all the kanji and vocab up until now without any major issues, but i feel as if im cheating the system by not being able to remember to mnemonics for the kanji/vocab. Not all but i would say i don’t know the mnemonics for about 80%(might be more or less, just an estimate) of the material iv’e learned so far. I’m able to recall and produce fine in both WaniKani and KaniWani with no major issues besides the early stages of learning the new material.
In the beginning stages of learning a new lesson i read the info on said item and i try to recall it as best as possible and then proceed to the quiz. Sometimes ill 100% the quiz, sometimes ill fail some items immediately and there will just be a blank in my head of what this item could possibly be, sometimes ill remember the meaning but not the reading and so on.
Then we move on to reviews, Ill review the mnemonics of the previous lesson after the quiz to prepare for the next review, When the reviews come, for the most part, i forgot allot if not all of the mnemonics that i studied so i end up failing allot of new items. After this stage ill drill some in the Self Study extension and the items will start to stick. For some items i will know the mnemonics and others will just kind of burn into my memory. I’ll have no clue to what the mnemonic for said item is but after enough drilling and failing reviews ill instinctively know that said item’s meaning and reading is.
I can’t help but get the feeling i’m getting the right answers the wrong way and i’m going through WaniKani not in its designed manner. I think it shows in how long it takes me to complete a level.
I’d love some feedback and advice and to know if its normal to forget mnemonic and if you just find yourself instinctively knowing the meanings and readings and if you could share your study routine or how you learn and advance through the levels in a reasonable amount of time. Thank You for making it this far!
Mnemonics are just a means to an end, which is eventually learning the kanji or lecture you want to remember. They, let’s say, “draw” a trace that you can mentally walk on to remember that thing you are trying to memorize.
But if you can already recall that knowledge without having to use mnemonics that is totally fine and where SRS comes into play. The idea is that you no longer will need those mnemonics later on. Many WaniKani users choose to ditch mnemonics entirely.
At the end, there’s not a “right” way to use WaniKani so just keep going on and see what works for you. If you plan to keep using mnemonics in the future, though, try putting a bit more attention to them since, specially for lectures, some mnemonics are consistent between items and this can help create mental connections between new concepts and make memorization easier.
Yes, that is perfectly normal. The mnemonics are just meant to be the initial bridge to help you remember the readings/meanings. Once that knowledge becomes instinctual the mnemonics are meant to fall away as they no longer serve any purpose.
You can always keep Mrs. Chou in your heart even if you no longer need her to remember your readings.
I think the same as the others but you may be “cheating the system” if you study again in between reviews because that way things stay in your short term memory instead of long term.
For the first apprentice levels it’s okay even though going in blindly and making mistakes would achieve the same results with maybe a few more hours time.
